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November 30, 2006
A Night Out!
Dawnise and I actually got out of the house this evening for the first time since my surprise party on Saturday. The skies were clear, the temp above freezing, and it was the Bainbridge Island tree lighting ceremony downtown. We walked around, watched the tree(s) get lighted, and then joined our neighbor Marcia for dinner at the pub.
Upon our return we had to park the car at the base of the hill and walk back to the house, but hey - we escaped. Still no chance of getting either of my bikes down the hill, though my neighbor up the hill made it down on his dirt-bike this morning.
Posted by dberger at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)
Rear Wheel Drive
Walked down the hill to see about retrieving the car - no dice. Between the low-profile sport tires and the rear-wheel drive, it was having none of the slush covered hill, and thanks to the traction control you don't even get the satisfaction of digging yourself a hole in the ground...
At least temps are above freezing - if they stay that way overnight most of this might be gone tomorrow (leaving just mud). They're predicting below freezing temps tomorrow and Saturday night, though - so if it's still slushy tomorrow, the car stays at the base of the hill so at least we can do the pre-party shopping we need to do this weekend...
Fun, fun.
Posted by dberger at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)
MoveOn.
Finally got fed up of MoveOn spamming me and unsubscribed from their mailing list.
Funny part is that "I get too much email from MoveOn" is the first in the "why I unsubscribed" drop-down.
Take a hint guys.
Posted by dberger at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)
The North Side of Freezing
We hit 33 degrees this morning, and the temp is slowly but surely climbing. Water's dripping off the (18" long) icicles in almost a steady stream.
'course we got another 3" of snow on the ground last night, so it'll take a while, but with any luck things will be back to chilly (as opposed to cold) over the next couple days.
Posted by dberger at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2006
Look, Ma - No Traction!
Dawnise had a long-standing brunch appointment with a friend this morning - normally she'd have blown it off, but this particular friend is moving out of state in a week or so, so Dawnise decided she really wanted to keep the date if she could.
Getting the car down the hill was no problem - gravity works, and she kept it under control. By the time she reached the bottom, however, she had decided that driving wasn't such a great idea, and wanted to turn around. Looking at the sanded road in front of us, I decided that hard part was over, so we did a Chinese fire drill and I drove her down to the restaurant.
Continue reading "Look, Ma - No Traction!"
Posted by dberger at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2006
West Wing
Unlike Battlestar Galactica, which has left me luke-warm thus far, I continue to be impressed with nearly everything about The West Wing.
We watched two episodes tonight - The Leadership Breakfast and The Drop In, which featured one of my favorite recurring characters - Lord John Marbury (played by Roger Rees). What strikes me each time I see Rees in this role is how deftly he takes the audience with him through his abrupt transformation from jocular to somber and deadly serious.
And on a totally unrelated note - according to our outdoor thermometer it's (a near record low of) 16.6 degrees (-8.5C) outside. I'm looking forward to it warming up to a predicted balmy high of 37 tomorrow.
Posted by dberger at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
Snowed In: Day 2
Pop quiz - what do you get when you mix snow on the ground with temperatures hovering above freezing during the day and dipping into the low teens at night?
Continue reading "Snowed In: Day 2"
Posted by dberger at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)
November 26, 2006
Two Steps Forward, One Step Sideways
Since moving in, we've had some spare furniture sitting about collecting dust (and stuff). Over the last week Dawnise has found homes for most of it - the armoire that used to house our TV going to a lady who wanted it as a free-standing closet, and Dawnise's old dresser and our two nightstands going to our friends Brad & Kat.
Continue reading "Two Steps Forward, One Step Sideways"
Posted by dberger at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)
Who Ordered the Snow?
I don't normally work on my birthday - I make it a point to take the day off and do as little as possible.
For whatever reason (call it the honeymoon with the new job not being over - I'm enjoying work at the moment) I was planning to go in as normal tomorrow, maybe make it a half day.
Seems fate may have taken a hand. It started snowing about 45 minutes ago, and they're predicting up to 2" accumulation by the end of tomorrow. I'll ride in the rain, but snow? That's where I draw the line.
Posted by dberger at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2006
Surprise!
Dawnise successfully sprung her two-months-in-the-making surprise party on me tonight with the help of David @ C'est La Vie.
He called around 6pm with a story about his credit card machine acting up - sounding legitimately distressed - and asked if I could stop by and see if I could sort it out again. Being the sucker I am, I told him we were about to head to dinner at the pub and that I'd stop in on our way.
Continue reading "Surprise!"
Posted by dberger at 10:12 PM | Comments (2)
November 24, 2006
Resquiat in Pacem, Robert Altman
If you didn't catch it, Robert Altman died the other day at the age of 81.
I've enjoyed a number of Altman's films (M*A*S*H* and The Player come immediately to mind) - and most recently Gosford Park landed on my top 5 list of all-time-favorite films.
We watched it again tonight as a sort of homage to the fallen, and yet again Helen Mirren's performance in her final scenes struck true.
Posted by dberger at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
Giving Thanks
I generally poo-poo holidays on the grounds that you should appreciate what you have, be kind to your fellow man, tell people you love them and honor veterans (etc. etc.) a little every day, rather than saving it all up for an officially designated day.
I realize not everyone (anyone?) thinks like me, so happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Now that the overindulgence is over, go figure out how bad the damage is and start working it off :)
Posted by dberger at 2:21 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
Little Frustrations
Our new(ish) car developed it's first problem - the driver door didn't like to open from the outside. So I called BMW of Seattle and made an appointment for today so Dawnise could bring it in and get that, and a couple other random things, taken care of.
Continue reading "Little Frustrations"
Posted by dberger at 5:23 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2006
Battlestar Galactica
I've had disc 2 of (the new) Battlestar Galactica sitting at home for weeks. Since shortly after Dawnise got back from S. Africa.
She's been uninterested in watching it, and I don't generally watch TV without her, so it's been just sorta sitting there. We watched two episodes - You Can't Go Home Again, and Litmus, last night.
Continue reading "Battlestar Galactica"
Posted by dberger at 8:51 AM | Comments (1)
Smoke 'em if you've got 'em
Due to "technical issues" that still need to be resolved, the transition from "free" to "overpriced" wifi on the ferry system has been pushed back a week.
Still not willing to pay $30/month for it.
But I am going to miss it.
Posted by dberger at 7:27 AM | Comments (0)
November 20, 2006
Time for a new UPS
As we head into winter, the "lots of trees, occasional wind storms, and above-ground power infrastructure" is biting us again. The power was out a couple times in the last few weeks for a few hours each incident.
It was enough that it convinced me to see about getting my old APC BackUPS 500 actually monitored. One new battery ($30) and a bit of time later, nut is happily watching the UPS, and reporting our occasional power hiccups.
I discovered yesterday, however, that the UPS isn't actually indicating when it's entering low battery - so the machine happily runs along on battery 'till the UPS kicks it.
That's clearly silly. Time to buy a new UPS and re-purpose this one to something that isn't trying to use it for intelligent shutdown.
Posted by dberger at 6:20 AM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2006
samba and firestarter
Now that I can't completely ignore Windows (working for a Windows shop and all) I've been trying, on and off, for a couple weeks to get samba working happily with firestarter.
I found the magic tonight.
[21:29:09] dberger@rage : ~ 1136 $ sudo cat /etc/firestarter/user-pre $MPB ip_conntrack_netbios_ns 2> /dev/null
Oh, and:
[21:33:23] dberger@rage : ~ 1142 $ grep hosts /etc/nsswitch.conf #hosts: db files nisplus nis dns hosts: files dns wins
works great, provided you also start the winbind service
Posted by dberger at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2006
I Think I'm Fighting a Cold
I've been cold all day, and yet sweating. I'm pretty sure that's not good. I feel fine, save for the cold thing, but I wonder if that'll be true tomorrow morning...
Posted by dberger at 4:36 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2006
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
Dawnise came home from the library the other day with a copy of Alan Alda's memoir Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned. It took me three days of commuting and a half hour at home this evening to reach the back cover, with a small sense of loss for having done so. A quick read, full of poignant and humorous anecdotes. Worth picking up.
Posted by dberger at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)
Black Powder War
I neglected to mention that I finished the third Temeraire book - Black Powder War - the other day. Enjoyed it just as much as the other two, and I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the next installment.
Posted by dberger at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2006
Well, That Was Easy
The heated grips went on with minimal hassle - just like the instructions said they should. I started this morning around 11, and stopped when Juan and Rachel came by. We had a very nice afternoon with them - lunch at the pub, ice cream at Mora, and crepes and coffee at C'est La Vie (she's pregnant - which is a great excuse to eat everything and anything).
We got back around 3:30, they left to catch the 4:30 boat, and I resumed installation with Dawnise's help ("Aziz, light!").
Aside from having to do one bit twice 'cause I mis-routed the throttle cable the first time, it was pretty painless. The grips seem to warm up fairly quickly (which is good) - and I'm looking forward to trying them out on Monday. I'm already thinking it's something I should have done years ago.
Now, it's off to the Improv.
Posted by dberger at 6:26 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2006
Give The Gift of Warm
Nise gave me my birthday present a bit early - she ordered the heated grip kit for my Trophy and it arrived today. I gave the instructions a once over, and it looks like a couple hours of effort. If I make the time this weekend, cold fingers could be a thing of the past.
Gosh she's swell.
I also got the Sceptre wide screen LCD that I ordered to replace the Viewsonic that went tango-uniform on me. Hooked it up, and I suspect that once I get the color and brightness dialed in, it will work nicely indeed.
Oh, and as an added bonus, it was nearly $100 cheaper than the Viewsonic of the same size and resolution that it's replacing.
Posted by dberger at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2006
A Capitol Time
Several months back Dawnise noticed that The Capitol Steps were coming to Seattle and grabbed tickets. The show was last night at the Paramount - and as you might imagine, with the results of the mid-term elections yesterday the troupe and the crowd were in top form. It's the closest I've ever been - or am likely to be - to a DNC rally.
The show was high-larious - I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. If you've never heard their particular brand of political humor, check out a few clips on YouTube, and if they're going to appear in your neighborhood go see 'em.
Posted by dberger at 7:57 AM | Comments (0)
November 8, 2006
My Resolve Is Weakening
The more I think about having a boat-load of reliable disk space on the network, the more drawn I am to the idea. I haven't really gotten around to doing anything with the Linksys NSLU2 I bought - save for taking it apart and admiring the hardware design - and after looking at USB2/SATA enclosures (about $40 each for ones with reasonable cooling), I'm wondering if I should bother moving forward...
Continue reading "My Resolve Is Weakening"
Posted by dberger at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)
It's Green!
And it's not mold. Or Moss.
Yes, it's true - we're starting to get grass. The areas we (and when I say we, I mean our landscaper) seeded have sprouted. I sure hope our plans for this "grows tall and lays over on it's side" grass work, or I'll be cutting a lawn again.
Posted by dberger at 9:23 AM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2006
Seriously Soggy
Holy crap it's wet out. They're predicting up to 6 inches of rain today, rivers at record high levels, and up to 70mph winds in some areas. Then tomorrow the ocean swells arrive, bringing record high tides and the possibility of coastal flooding.
Fun fun. I'm expecting we'll lose power at least once, and I'm hoping that any trees that decide to come down aim away from the house.
Fingers crossed.
Posted by dberger at 9:30 AM | Comments (2)
November 4, 2006
nspluginwrapper
This solves a long-standing problem of mine.
Glad I stumbled onto it.
Posted by dberger at 8:26 PM | Comments (0)
November 3, 2006
Some Days It's Not Worth Getting Up
The day started out ok - I planned to work from home, so I got to sleep in a bit. I got up and went downstairs to find that the larger of my two LCD's - a Viewsonic va2012wb - was displaying "NO SIGNAL". Little did I know what a harbinger that would turn out to be...
Continue reading "Some Days It's Not Worth Getting Up"
Posted by dberger at 2:52 PM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2006
Throne of Jade
Just finished the second Temeraire book; Throne of Jade, which I enjoyed just as much as the first.
I find Novik's characters engaging and her sense of pacing excellent. Looking forward to the third one, and to an eventual rendering of them on the big screen.
Posted by dberger at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)
Speaking of Modern Textiles
While I'm praising modern textiles for keeping me dry, I should mention that I continue to be impressed with my Timbuk2 laptop messenger bag.
It's been with me, with my notebook inside, and performed admirably.
Posted by dberger at 6:28 PM | Comments (0)
The Boy Scouts Have It Right
The bit about being prepared, at least. Maybe not the bit about the copyright merit badge. (Yea, I know, you can't make that kind of stuff up.)
The weather 'round here has turned into typical Seattle fall/winter - which means wet. And the last few wet days have been wetter than usual - with actual rain, rather than the prolonged drizzle we normally experience. This morning was one of those wet days, and it happened to be a Thursday which means, as with Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and usually Friday, I had to go to work.
On the motorcycle.
In the rain.
Continue reading "The Boy Scouts Have It Right"
Posted by dberger at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2006
Curses, Foiled Again
For months now, I've occasionally gotten mysterious additional charges on my Cingular (formerly AT&T) bill related to my "Unlimited" data plan. Each month I've called them, they've reversed the charges, and no one has been able to offer me an explanation...
Until now.
Continue reading "Curses, Foiled Again"
Posted by dberger at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)